


Aspiration and Legacy

by SakoAkarui



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-06 11:46:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3133265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakoAkarui/pseuds/SakoAkarui
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a Highschoolstuck work in which senior Roxy Lalonde guides freshman Calliope, instructing her on the ins-and-outs of the high school experience. While the focus is on Roxy and Calliope, you'll see a large number of familiar faces along the way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aspiration and Legacy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sweet_witch_hella_knight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweet_witch_hella_knight/gifts).



Calliope shifted back on her heels and peered around her locker door. It certainly was overwhelming at high school. So many people… For someone prone to - and mostly content with - being alone all the time, the first day of high school was both a time for exultation and fear. The first for the chance at building friendships, the latter at the sheer multitude of people. It was all a bit much, actually! Voices a cacophony, bouncing off walls and people, echoing up stairways. And the _smells_. Did Calliope have so many smells in her own home? Did her house smell like Calliope? Because the school had an unrepentant odor of deodorant-dampened sweat and unrefrigerated food.

Caliborn was adjusting as well as Calliope had expected. She wished there were something she could do to help him, but he refused again and again. He just wouldn’t listen! If Calliope was frank with herself, she just had to accept that her brother was really awful, and there was nothing to do about it.

But surely she could find _some_ way to reach out. She just had to think on it a little longer. They’d both get through this, if she had any say in it.

Her luck had clearly come through in one respect, though. Her locker was at the end of the hall. Hardly anyone walked by. She could secret her things away, study other people from a distance, and spend some time in - relative - quiet. She’d need to find a better refuge, though. Some place where she probably wouldn’t be walked in on accidentally at all.

The sound of footsteps quickened Calliope’s heart. She berated herself for daydreaming again.

 _Okay, Calliope. You can do this. Just wave a little, and say hi. People do it all the time in TV shows._ Calliope was a little obsessed with TV shows. Okay, completely. And books. A little less on movies, unless they were series she could really sink her teeth into. Stories are best when they are overwhelmingly complex and convoluted, she thought. If only there were a series with the intrigue and heart-wrenching character deaths of _Game of Thrones_ matched with the relatable, lovable, ridiculous characters of _How I Met Your Mother_. And then make the characters her own age, going through all the woes reflected from her own struggles with maturity!

If only.

No! She had to focus. Surely after striking up a conversation, she would learn all about her classmates’ engaging back stories and troubles. Calliope was ready. Two kids from her homeroom class were walking her way. She could do this.

_Say hi._

_Just, open up your mouth and let out a sound._

_Okay, how about a wave. Wiggle the hand._

The other students turned to their lockers. Calliope knew she could still say hi, but why bother now? It’d be easier if she knew something about these people, but all she had was a whole string of names the teacher had called out. She couldn’t even remember half of them.

Calliope closed her locker and dodged her way through the freshman hall to the stairs. How was she supposed to work up the courage to talk to people when she was sure they had no interest in talking with someone like her?

###

Calliope found herself a little lost, but following the general flow of the populace got her to the first floor, and from there she took the first door she saw to the outside. No one else came out through this small door tucked behind the water fountain, though. Maybe they all preferred the big, main doors that let out onto the quad? Wherever those were.

Outside was a small, empty courtyard with walls all around. There were some hedges on the far side which muffled the loud sounds of students celebrating an end to classes for the day. Calliope sat herself down at one of the tables. This seemed like a nice spot. Even though the walls blocked off her view, she could see the sky if she craned her neck back. Other than the door Calliope had found, the only other exit was a small gate between the hedges on the far end. Calliope tried to figure out where that gate must lead to, but it was hard. She still found the buildings disorienting and wasn’t sure where the main entrance was in relation to everything else. She wasn’t even sure how to find that door again.

“Well, at least I found a nice quiet place!” Calliope told herself out loud. She liked to talk to herself; her brother made awful company, but hearing her own voice was less lonely.

“A nice quiet place for what?” Calliope’s head whipped up to see an older student sitting on the table.

“How did you get there?” she asked. She surely would have noticed someone coming into the courtyard and sitting literally right in front of her, wouldn’t she?

“I am a master of materialization. Like, they had a class, and I just destroyed it. Got some mad matter-making skills on. I upstaged the teacher, lifted her right up on that stage. They had to cancel the whole class because of my mad skills. Quite a shame, too. Needed the easy A, you know?”

“Uh… I don’t think I followed that exactly. But if that’s normal, then it sounds like you should be very proud!” With a small smile, the girl raised an eyebrow at Calliope. She had short, bobbed blond hair, and deep red lipstick. It was really daring, and Calliope wondered if she was meeting someone very exciting.

“You’re a pretty cool kid, it seems. Alright, you’ve caught my attention, but I have a guess about you anyway.”

“You do?” Calliope asked. She didn’t think anyone had noticed her at all. Many people still didn’t even realize that Caliborn was her brother, even though they looked an awful lot a like. The awful part being Caliborn.

“Oh, yeah. I got your number. You’re a new freshman. Bright cheeks and big hopes. Reminds me of my own self, or my BFFsy, back when we started out.”

“Oh. Well, yes, I am a freshman. And, I guess, I do have big hopes. It’s just… well, there are so many people.”

“Aha, so you thought a courtyard like this would be quiet. A little peace from all the bubbling freshmen and drama. Well, it is, but… I also got a secret for you.” The girl leaned down close, and Calliope leaned forward in anticipation. The girl whispered very softly into Calliope’s ear:

“This is the senior courtyard.”

“What’s a senior courtyard?” Calliope asked in a hushed whisper. The girl started to laugh so hard she couldn’t answer Calliope’s question at all.

“I’m sorry, not laughing at you. Whoo-ee! First day of classes always a surprise, am I right?” She brushed moisture from her eye, then held out her hand. “I, my dear, am Roxy. As a senior, I’ll be your chaperone on this - extra-super special! - visit to the courtyard reserved exclusively for us seniors. But this place gets packed later in the semester, so we gotta find you another place to tuck away in, if that’s what you’re after.” Calliope took the hand, tentatively shaking it.

“Well, my name is Calliope.”

“Calliope? Calliope… I like it. Cal-eeeeee-oh! Pea. That is a fun name. Ca’I call you Callie?” Calliope nodded.

“Actually,” Calliope admitted, “I was trying to find the east gate. I should be getting home, but I just…”

“Got lost? Yeah, it happens. I actually got, like CRAZY lost in the beginning. I’d zone out and somehow wind up in the attic, or in the chapel. Teachers didn’t even know there WAS an old chapel here. Had to get my bro-buddy to keep tabs on me, keep me out of trouble. WELL, out of big trouble. But listen to my mouth going on and on. Like a hare just running laps on a poor tortoise, who’s just moseying along doing his own thing, bothering no one and probably appreciating some pretty roses. Alright, time to fulfill my chaperonial duties. If you will follow me, little miss Callie!”

Roxy led the way out of the courtyard, talking a mile a minute. Calliope listened raptly. Roxy was definitely an interesting character! As a senior, she clearly had a lot of interesting stories. She really knew her way around, too. She pointed out the important locations as they passed by - a vending machine that apparently was old and would often give up soda with the right kind of nudge; the cafeteria, and the back way into the kitchen where you could get the staff to forward you a free dessert. Calliope felt overwhelmed again, but this time excitedly so. She longed to take her notebook down and start writing furiously, but all of a sudden they were at the gate.

“Whelp, I suppose my duty for the day is complete. Careful where you wander off to tomorrow; I can assure you there are places you _don’t_ want to find on accident in these buildings. Get home safely now, and I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

“No, of course, thank you.” Calliope looked to see if Caliborn was nearby. As much as she hated it, they’d have to go home together. “By the way, where might I find you if I had any questions?” Calliope turned, but she was alone. She looked around, but even though the area was only moderately crowded, she couldn’t see Roxy anywhere.

###

Calliope tucked her legs up and curled into the hidden nook. From her vantage point she could just barely see up one of the stacks of the library out into the main room. More importantly, she could barely be seen. Calliope drew in her journal, content that she was free from the prattling of her classmates.

“Well look at you! All ‘a hiding up in these _secret_ places!” Calliope looked up to see Roxy looming over her.

“Where did you come from?” she asked.

“I work in mysterious ways, kid. Like a ninja, but, like, less scaling walls and more bypassing. Imma decker out to wreck ‘er. So whattya doin’ camped out here?”

“Oh! Nothing to worry about.” Calliope put her notebook away, distracting Roxy with another question. “So, uh, is this another one of your ‘senior hideouts’?”

“Nope. Just saw you over here and wanted to pop in. See how you were holding up since school started.”

“Oh! That’s so kind of you!”

“Actually,” Roxy said, drawing out the syllables. “I had a surprise for you. If you wanted.”

“For me? Really?” She’d never gotten a surprise from anyone. Okay, she’d had a few unwanted ones from Caliborn, but Roxy seemed like the type to give a good surprise. Not that she’d heard that much about her. Her classmates, being freshmen like her, knew little about any of the seniors. But what she had heard made Roxy sound like the life of the party. That didn’t seem like the kind of person Calliope would have as a friend, being as plain and well… Calliope felt like even though she was trying and really hoped things would work out, she wasn’t making any headway with her plans to make friendships. Caliborn didn’t help.

“Come on, Callie. Let Roxy teach you a thing or two about this building of yours.” Calliope followed Roxy out of the library and into the hall. Roxy led her back into one of little used hallways. Calliope thought there must be staff or office rooms back here, but on the far side of the restrooms, Roxy walked up into a shadowy alcove and pushed on the back wall.

Except apparently it was a door.

“Found this back stairwell back in my own freshman year. No idea why no one ever uses it, but it’s basically always deserted.”

The stairwell wasn’t anything to look at. Whitewashed walls, pale painted metal bannisters on metal steps. It was very narrow as it worked its way up, and another set descended into, presumably, the basement.

“Oh, yeah, the basement. Probably not worth going down there, really. I mean, it’s not like there’s a boogie man or anything.” Roxy started climbing the stairs and Calliope hurried to catch up. Roxy moved quickly and Calliope was panting when Roxy stopped short. Calliope looked up to see another girl with long dark hair and large glasses.

“Jade!” Roxy said. “What’re you doing back here?”

“Oh, I had just thought… Well, actually, I went up to the fourth floor, and then completely forgot what I was doing! Hello back there!” Jade waved and flashed a bright, slightly buck-toothed smile.

“Jade, meet my friend Callie here.” Roxy put her arm around Calliope’s shoulder and hugged her tight. “My little protege. I’m teaching the young one’s now to follow in my footsteps.”

“Well, that sounds great! As long as you don’t lead them to that boiler room!”

“Nah, only the fun places. But weren’t you supposed to go talk with that guy you met at your robotics thing…” Jade face palmed.

“Ugh, you’re right! That’s what I was supposed to do today!”

“You should go back to tying strings on your fingers,” Roxy said lightly. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to it.”

“Of course. ‘Bye Callie! Good to meet you at last!” Jade passed her going down before Calliope could put in her actual name. But then again, it didn’t really matter. Calliope sort of liked the nickname. She followed Roxy up to the top floor.

“What does she mean, at last?” Calliope asked. Roxy leaned on the door and ushered Calliope out again.

“Aw, I just been telling people how awesome you are.” Calliope looked around in surprise. She had never noticed the door at the end of the hall; she was staring right at her locker. She turned to look at the closed door, but she could hardly see it, even knowing it was there.

“I used to run up these stairs when I’d forgotten something in my locker. Teachers thought I was teleporting or something, how fast I got around. And now, I hereby bequeath my secrets unto you.” Roxy even bowed with a flourish.

“Thank you! With this, I won’t have to push through everyone to get to classes.”

“‘Course. Oh, MAN I haven’t been up here in ages! I wonder if they ever found where me an’ Jane used to write up on the wall. I mean, I did and she all scolded like she was upset, but then she’d correct all my misspellings because, well, writing on walls is awful, but apparently grammar mistakes are HEATHENRY.” Calliope laughed as Roxy showed her around and told her stories about her freshman year.

###

It was about three weeks into the semester when Caliborn’s true colors were common knowledge. By now, even though Calliope was still pretty non-existent to her classmates, people knew that she was siblings with Caliborn. The few people who did notice her didn’t want to talk with her anymore. Calliope was beginning to feel incredibly lonely. At least when she and Caliborn had been taught on their own at home, she could blame the loneliness on actually being alone. Now she had no reason but her own self for having no friends.

Though she couldn’t say no friends, actually. Roxy popped in with various seeds of wisdom. Roxy always ‘popped in’. Calliope never saw her coming, and only saw her leave half the time. It was unnerving at first, but she was growing accustomed to Roxy’s ways.

“Whoa, those are awesome!” Calliope looked up in surprise to see Roxy over her shoulder. She was growing mostly accustomed. “Is that what you’re always drawing in that notebook of yours! Aw, Callie, I gotta see more of these wicked arts.”

“You want to see my work?” Roxy sat on the table next to Calliope’s notebook.

“Hells to the yes. I wanna get close to these spectacular doodles. I wanna ask that one out to prom. I’ll wear a flower crown to match that flowery belt he’s got there, and we’ll be frickin’ prom royalty.”

“Well, he’s already a prince!”

“No ways! Seriously? I hope he’s available, too, because I feel like a princess all of the sudden - Janey?” Calliope looked up. Roxy was looking behind her; Calliope turned to see a girl with short hair. Her eyes looked a little red.

“Oh, hi. I didn’t expect to see you right now. I guess I never can know where you might be!”

“What’s wrong?” Roxy asked. Jane just shook her head.

“It was only this jerk. I wouldn’t have cared but after that altercation with Jake yesterday… Shucks, I don’t know why I expected anything different from Jake!”

“Yeah, for a mackable piece of cutie-patootitude, he sure does space out. Hey, I bet they have some cake left over from lunch! Want to go snag a snack? Have I brought you to the kitchen yet, Callie?” Calliope shook her head.

“I am choosing to ignore the word you have clearly changed in an incomprehensible fashion and focus on the important information. Is this the Callie everyone is talking about?” Jane asked.

“Yup,” Roxy said. “My girl Callie’s an artist. But we can talk about that over cake.”

Roxy didn’t tell her the details on how she’d gotten close with the kitchen staff, but she certainly had a complex system for talking with them.

“You gotta watch out,” Roxy said, “because the main cook is a witch! But she’s got this guy who does basically all of the work, and he’s one cool dude. You just pull yourself up to this window, look in and… Aw, yis.” She knocked lightly on the window, and it slid open. Calliope could just see the outline of a man inside.

“Yo, Psy-man, we are on a mission for cake. Any leftovers?” Within minutes, Roxy was trading a fist bump for three slices of chocolate cake.

“Ok, Janey spill.”

“It was just this dumb underclassman. As I said before, I should never have let him affect me.”

“He didn’t look something like… a male me, did he?” Calliope asked.

“I hadn’t thought of that, but now that you mention it, he and you do look something alike!”

“Oh dear…” Calliope said. “I believe you may have met my brother.”

“Wha?! I didn’t know you had a brother,” Roxy said around a mouthful of cake.

“I’m not exactly proud of him, but yes, I do have a brother. He really is awful. I’m sorry you talked with him, Jane. He isn’t nice with anyone at all; he’s torn all sorts of pages from my journal, or even drawn over them. Or what he thinks of as drawing…”

“I’m not likely to run into him often,” Jane said. “I feel more concern for your position. He doesn’t seem like a good sort of sibling to have! Of course, you can’t choose your siblings.” Roxy had a far off look, and Jane had to snap her fingers a few times to get Roxy to answer to her name.

“You’re scheming, aren’t you?” Jane asked.

“Me? Never. Okay, always. I am always scheming. BUT you should also remember that I have the best ideas!”

“I can think of many exceptions to this rule,” Jane said. She gave Roxy a suspicious stare.

“Okay, maybe I don’t always have the best ideas. But you DO know I always stick by my friends, yes?”

“Callie, I should warn you that, while Roxy is right about helping her friends, she can cause as much trouble as help!” Calliope smiled at Roxy’s indignation.

“You know what’s better to talk about then some jerk who happens to exist in an awful disgrace of happenstance? Why don’t we talk about all the drawings Callie’s got. You drawn any wizards, because I sure do love me some wizards.” Calliope smiled and began to share the stories of all the characters in her notebook, happy to share stories with a rapt and interested audience.

###

It was in the computer lab that Calliope first found Roxy. She couldn’t believe it. Roxy had always found her and Calliope almost believed that Roxy could literally vanish into the air. But there she was, human as ever and typing away at the computer. Calliope moved closer to see what Roxy was typing, but it wasn’t recognizable at all.

“What are you doing?” Calliope whispered. Roxy sat bolt upright as if she’d be electrically shocked.

“How did you sneak up behind me like that? Wait, don’t tell me, I’m just happy my skills are finally rubbing off on someone. You’ll possess all my skills by the end of the year, or I’ll forgo cat petting privileges for, like, ever.” Calliope sat down at the next computer and they continued in hushed voices.

“I don’t know if I could do _everything_ you can do. I don’t even know what language that is!”

“That’s ‘cuz I’m programming. Gotta tell the computer what to do, then let it go!” She hit the enter button definitively and then turned fully to Calliope. “Okay, maybe not _all_ my skills. I could teach you if you wanted to know. But the main thing is knowing what kinds of things you want to program, then just convincing the computer how to do it.”

“So what did that program do?” Roxy winked.

“Just wait it out. All things in due time. Oh hey,” Roxy said, looking over Calliope’s shoulder. “Why’s’it always the computer lab I get all these people coming to see me? I should be here more often.”

“You’d be easier to find!” said a boy entering the lab. He pulled out a stray chair and sat down with Roxy and Calliope.

“Uh uh, glass houses, my friend. We can’t be throwing rocks and hammers about like it’s a wedding or something.” Then Roxy threw her arm out and hugged Calliope tightly.

“John, look at my student, Callie. She’s even learned how to sneak up on people, how cool is that?!”

“Oh! That gives me a great idea! No, wait, I came in here for a reason! Don’t distract me.” John’s face turned serious. It didn’t look like it was used to being serious. “I wanted to ask you about Rose. She’s been acting funny. By which I mean not funny at all anymore and very cryptic.” One of the other students in the lab was making a lot of noise. Calliope turned to look between the monitors to see what was going on.

“What, that? You don’t have to worry ‘bout it. I’ve talked with her, and it’s all above water.”

“Hm. Okay. I just don’t want a repeat of sophomore year. That was pretty scary!” Whoever was making the noise must have lost their temper, because Calliope saw a keyboard fly across the room and hit the wall.

“STUPID COMPUTER WITH IT’S INSANE PROTOCOLS! I DIDN’T PROGRAM YOU TO DO THIS, YOU MUD-PIE EATING CONTESTANT FROM THE RANCH OF PERPETUAL MORONS!”

“I know that voice!” John said. He popped his head over the computer monitors then waved cheerfully. “I haven’t seen you all semester, where have you been hiding?”

“You! You did this, I know you’re involved. Get over here so I can give you a piece of my mind!”

“Uh, well, Roxy, I hate to dash so quick but maybe we can meet after school to finish up this talk? Same place?”

“Yup!”

“Nice meeting you Callie!” He was gone as quickly as he’d flown into the room with the other student chasing behind.

“He seemed…” Calliope said, unsure of what to say after such a brief interaction.

“John’s hard to pin down. Number one complaint from our friends is they can never find us when they need to. I tell them that’s what cells are for, ya know? ‘Cause I’m always just a text away.”

“What about those things he asked about Rose?” Calliope had learned by now that while Roxy was someone everyone was aware of generally but knew next to nothing about, Rose was quite the opposite. Very outspoken, Rose was known for her thorough, if not unnecessarily complicated, arguments with teachers resulting normally in detentions. There was only one other person who was similarly admired for their response to teachers, but it was also generally known that he and Rose considered this a contest of some sort between the two of them.

“Rose is making plans. She’s a clever one, that Rose. Don’t worry, you’ll see what happens soon. As will he. Can’t spoil the surprise though, right?” Roxy stood and Calliope followed. “Hm, what else should I try to teach you? Oh, did you know about the vending machine behind the staff offices? It’s old, so you can hit it just right and get free sodas.”

“You did tell me, but I’m not sure if that’s a good thing…”

“It only gives out free Tab, though. Sometimes you can get a Faygo out of it. And no one really wants those anyway.”

“Hey.” Roxy turned towards another kid who was leaning over the monitors. “You’re the one who junked KK’s program, right?” Roxy just winked. The guy laughed and sat back down.

“That isth unbelievably hilariousth…”

###

Calliope was just leaving class when she spotted Roxy making a beeline towards her.

“Callie, sista’, grab yo’ lunch! I gots some friends to introduce you to.”

“Really?” Calliope wondered what sort of friends Roxy meant. She’d been slowly meeting the other seniors that Roxy spent most of her time with. Was she going to have lunch with them all? She worried about dealing with so many people, most of whom she’d only met once. Roxy led her out of the building, talking the whole way about her mom and how excited she was for her upcoming birthday in December.

There was a commotion from the quad ahead. Calliope heard Caliborn's voice and stiffened. Roxy pulled her along, however, leading around to the top of the steps over the quad. She noticed another blond girl overlooking the action, smiling softly. Caliborn was down in the quad surrounded by a small crowd, and he seemed to be yelling again at a girl. Him and misogyny, Calliope thought. He didn't even pretend it was anything else.

Then she saw someone step out from the crowd and launch themselves at Caliborn. And then they were fighting. Half the time they were doing little other than tearing clothes or slapping ineffectually at each others arms. Calliope had never seen a real fight before. She wondered if all of them looked so… ridiculous?

"Is that," Calliope asked. "Is that the person I met in the computer lab?"

"If you are referring to a young man named John, then yes, you are correct," said the blond girl.

"This was your project, Rose?" Roxy asked. “You only told me enigmatic clues, but this seems like your sort of work.”

”Project implies sustained effort towards a concrete goal. I merely guided an inevitability in a fortuitous manner. Although my methods of persuasion are constantly improving. Hello, Calliope. I don't believe we have met yet, but it is a pleasure to speak with you." Calliope watched the fight in confusion. They attracted a larger crowd, but one boy was coming in close to take candid close-ups of the fighters. A teacher was fast approaching.

"If you would excuse me, I must step in to complete my true aim." Rose had to long sticks in hand, joined at the top by a knitted banner. Calliope watched in confusion as Rose moved swiftly towards the center of the quad. By the time she arrived, the teacher had already separated Caliborn and John. The kid with the camera was also being scolded by the time Rose arrived. She calmly stuck the sticks into the ground where the fight had occurred, displaying the knitted banner freely: "Here lies the Shattered Remnants of a Misogynist's Illusion of Impregnability. May its Ghost Descend to Hell and Bother the Living No More". The words were surrounded by pretty flowers. The pattern must've taken forever; Calliope was a little impressed with the amount of dedication. Rose dropped her head and began to pray. Roxy started laughing when the teacher exploded at Rose and brought her in tow with the others. Roxy was laughing so hard she was in tears.

"I don't think I understand," Calliope said. "Is this normal behavior?"

"For them yes." Roxy wiped a tear from her eye. "She and Dave have been competing. You know how the teach’’ll write a reason for detention? They're looking to one-up each other on reasons for detention. And I think Rose probably won this round. Commemorating a fight..." Roxy was laughing again, but she put an arm around Calliope's shoulders and walked away from the quad.

"But," she said, "as tot’s schway as that was, I had another reason for lunchin' with my favorite protege today. Follow me!”

###

The small courtyard on the east of campus was quiet. There were no classes in the buildings here, and its distance from everything made it unpopular. But Calliope saw a familiar face seated on a set of steps across the courtyard. Jade waved to them as Roxy and Calliope approached.

"Jay-ditty, you missed quite a show," Roxy said.

"Oh? What happened?" Jade asked.

"Rose may have crushed Dave in the ironic detention war." Jade frowned.

"I don't think I understand what they are fighting over, or for. But I'm sure she'll be happy about that. Dave will probably be happy to have a new challenge too! So if they are having fun, then I guess I'm happy too. Hi Callie!" Calliope looked at the other two girls seated around Jade. Roxy plopped onto the ground and started talking again.

"Jade here has a friend in her robotics class who is friends with this other freshman kid, and I thought, wow! You know what would be awesome? If awesome freshwomen could, like, hang out and do awesome things together. And Nepeta is the absolute 'cat's meow', according to Janey." The girl in the warm blue hat looked pleased with the assessment.

"And THIS ONE," Roxy said gesturing to the other girl. "This girl here. My girl here makes fish puns. SO MANY PUNS. You have no idea what a fantastic conversation you have to look forward to. I hope you aren't allergic to seafood because we are about to go positively pacific here real soon!"

"Whale I love the praise, it's not nearly as fun without fronds around." The girl laughed along with Roxy in a sincerely cheerful carefree manner.

"Wow! I'm happy to meet you," Calliope said as she sat down. "I'm Calliope. I'm in Ms. Paint's homeroom."

"I'm jealous!" Nepeta said. "She's supposed to be very nice! My name's Nepeta. A pleasure to meet you!" Nepeta purred a little through her p’s, Calliope noticed.

"And I'm Feferi," said the other girl. "I'm so EXCITED to meet someone else in our year!"

"See?" Roxy said. "Gotta look out for my freshmen entourage. NOW.” Roxy's face became serious. "I've recruited the three of you to continue my legacy upon my departure. I'm sure you are up to the task."

Calliope looked between Nepeta and Feferi. Roxy was beaming at her. All at once she found herself with friends, something she’d been hoping to gain since her first day in high school. With a laugh, Calliope felt that, while she didn't know if she was up to the task of carrying Roxy’s obviously significant legacy, she was certainly excited to try with her new friends.


End file.
